Storytelling for inspiration, healing & hope.

My water broke a few minutes after 5 a.m. I’d gotten up to use the restroom, and it happened just like I’d seen in the movies.

With a racing heart, I grabbed my cell phone to send a text to one of my dearest friends, Nikita, who’d volunteered to watch our firstborn son while I brought his little brother into the world. My husband had missed the birth of our first baby boy, and she knew how important it was for me to have him by my side this time around.

Afterward, I contacted the hospital to let them know what was going on, and they assured me it would be all right if I took my time getting ready; it would likely be a while before I was in active labor.

Trying to relax, I turned on the shower faucet and gave Nikita a call back while the water warmed to let her know she didn’t have to worry about coming over any time soon. But, in true Nikita fashion, she was already on her way; that’s just the kind of friend she is.

We met at a Family Readiness Group (FRG) picnic shortly before our husbands shipped out on a year-long deployment. We’d both arrived at Fort Bliss just a few months before, and we’d yet to make any acquaintances, let alone true companions we could lean on during this difficult time for our families. We became fast friends, brought together by our unique circumstances and the many things we have in common, including our mutual love of coffee and craft supply stores.

When our soldiers returned the following December, my husband and I found out we were pregnant right away. I was hopeful for Nikita, as she’d confided in me her longing to have another child, and my heart ached for her as month after month passed without a positive pregnancy test.

As my belly grew rounder, I became more and more aware of her struggles and pain. She was honest about her feelings, but she never abandoned our friendship. She was brave enough to carry around her hurt and be happy for me at the same time. She is one of the most selfless, kindhearted, generous women I know.

Now, after more than seven years of trying to conceive – in between training exercises and deployments — and countless tests, Nikita’s doctors have diagnosed her with “unexplained infertility.” But the journey isn’t over.

Nikita and her husband are just $1,400 away from their goal of saving up enough money to begin another round of testing and treatment in the New Year with a fertility specialist. When Nikita set out to raise the money, a friend encouraged her to start a GoFundMe account, but she decided to use her passion and talent for crocheting beautiful items to earn the funds instead.

“I wanted to make it my own and do my part to raise the money for my family,” Nikita explained.

She created Our Journey, a Facebook page where she sells sets of pretty handmade dishcloths.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

With a $10 donation, you will receive three dish cloths in your choice of colors and a fourth cloth made with soft, baby blue and pink yarn to symbolize and raise awareness of infertility, miscarriages and stillbirths.

You can also choose a grab bag for $8, which comes with three cloths made from a variety of scrap yarn pieces, plus the special baby blue and pink cloth.

This endeavor has brought Nikita hope in a long season of sadness and yearning.

If you’re looking for a worthy cause to support this month, please consider helping Nikita. You’ll receive a beautiful set of dish cloths, and you will be serving a deserving veteran military family in need of love and encouragement.

Welcome!

Hi! I’m Courtney. Wife of a soldier and mom of two boys.

Whether you’re brand new to military life, you have a decade or more of experience under your belt, or, like me, you’re somewhere in between: I believe the unwavering love we have for our service members and children has drawn us together for a reason.

You and me? We know home is not a place. It’s the family we’re working to build from the ground up on a foundation of faith.

We’re home, even when our household goods are driving away on the back of a moving truck; we’re home among the overstuffed suitcases and bleached hotel linens; we’re home in unfamiliar cities and foreign countries.

Let’s encourage one another as we learn how to make the most of life as wandering milspouses and mamas, exploring the world along the way.

Search for:

JOSHUA 1:9, NIV

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”